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| Needless Commentary from Small-Town America |
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Thursday, December 31, 2009 For Those Who Love Inscription for Katrina's Sun-Dial
Hours fly,
Time is Henry van Dyke (1852-1933) (Source.) Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 12/31/09 08:58:04 AM Complete Entry. Father Tabb Centenary Year Concludes Tempus fugit. In honor of the centenary of the death of poet-priest John B. Tabb, November 19, 1909, I began publishing sets of his poetry on the first Sunday of this year and finished on the last Sunday. There are now 70 sets of poems, including sets published on special days other than Sundays, such as the anniversary of Fr. Tabb's birth and of his death, on Good Friday and Christmas Day, and on the first day of Fall. Sets of five or more poems — that is, 284 poems in 56 sets — are published on one webpage at ELCore.Net. Here are links to digital versions of Father Tabb's original poetry books:
And here is a list of all the poetry sets blogged during the Father Tabb Centenary Year: Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 12/31/09 08:51:08 AM
The Blog from the Year 2008
Monday, December 28, 2009 Complete Entry.Not Yours to Give Not actually by Davy Crockett. An article, usually entitled "Not Yours to Give", is widely published on the Internet as a true story about Davy Crockett as told by his biographer Edward S. Ellis. (See, for example, here, here, here, here, here, and here. There is even an entire website devoted to it: http://notyourstogive.com/.) We can be sure, however, that the story was substantially a work of fiction. The only part for which there is some verification is that Col. Crockett, while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, did indeed object to a disbursement of federal funds for a specific charitable purpose but offered, instead, to contribute to a fund "in his private character", in April 1828. Ellis first published the story, using a pseudonym, in the January 1867 issue of Harper's — a very much longer version than appears nowadays on the Internet. Ellis wrote that version as if Col. Crockett had told the Horatio-Bunce story personally to Ellis — but Crockett had died four years before Ellis was born. Whether the story is fact or fiction — and Ellis was a successful author of novels widely read in his own day and long afterwards — nevertheless, the argument attributed to Bunce and, consequently, to Crockett stands or falls on its own merit. Courtesy of Google Books, here follows the complete story as originally published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXXIV (Dec. 1866 - May 1867), No. 203, pp. 606-611, Ellis using the nom de plume J. Bethune (attribution on p. iii). The article is quite convoluted: Ellis is telling a story about Crockett telling a story about Bunce. (Original page breaks are indicated by bracketed page numbers.) + + + + + DAVY CROCKETT'S ELECTIONEERING TOUR. [A.K.A. NOT YOURS TO GIVE] THERE was a time when there were few names more familiarly known to the people of this country than that of Davy Crockett. Many stories were told characteristic of his courage, his wit, his humor, his honesty, and his benevolence. I am about to relate one of somewhat different character, but not less honorable to him than any that have appeared. While he was in Congress I had business which required me to spend several weeks in Washington City. Waiting upon one of the Departments, or rather one of the chief clerks, for my turn, I had much leisure upon my hands; for though my business might have been dispatched as well in two hours as in two months, yet I had to wait. I had made up my mind that I would not leave until my business was settled. My only regular employment was to go every day to the office to learn that it could not be attended to that day. Crockett was then the lion of Washington. I was a great admirer of his character, and having several friends who were intimate with him, I found no difficulty in making his acquaintance. I was fascinated with him, and he seemed to take a fancy to me. I was one day in the lobby of the House of Representatives, when a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of the widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support, rather, as I thought, because it afforded the speakers a fine opportunity for display than from the necessity of convincing any body; for it seemed to me that every body favored it. The Speaker was just about to put the question, when Crockett arose. Every body expected, of course, that he was going to make one of his characteristic speeches in support of the bill. He commenced: [Page 607] "Mr. Speaker,—I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this House; but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every Member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as Members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death; and I have never beard that the Government was in arrears to him. This Government can owe no debts but for services rendered, and at a stipulated price. If it is a debt, how much is it? Has it been audited, and the amount due ascertained? If it has, the Treasurer will pay it without legislation. If it is a debt, this is not the place to present it for payment, or to have its merits examined. If it Is a debt, we owe more than we can ever hope to pay; for we owe the widow of every soldier who fought in the War of 1812 precisely the same amount. There is a woman in my neighborhood, the widow of as gallant a man as ever shouldered a musket. He fell in battle. She is as good in every respect as this lady, and is as poor. She is earning her daily bread by her daily labor; and if I were to introduce a bill to appropriate five or ten thousand dollars for her benefit I should be laughed at, and my bill would not get five votes in this House. There are thousands of widows in the country just such as the one I have spoken of, but we never hear of any of these large debts to them. Sir, this is no debt. The Government did not owe it to the deceased when he was alive; it could not contract it after he died. I do not wish to be rude, but I must be plain. Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We can not, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as a charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I can not vote for this bill. But I will give one week's pay to the object; and if every Member of Congress will do the same it will amount to more than the bill asks." He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as no doubt it would but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 12/28/09 09:38:57 PM
A Recent Comment I left a comment on an entry at neo-neocon: This past summer, I asked (rhetorically) of my friend over dinner, “When do you think the shooting will start?” I gave my own answer: shortly after the 2010 elections, because the fraud will be so blatant that everybody will see it; and, I think we will have reached the point when some folks, at the least, will see to it that the Democrats do not steal another seat in the Congress (like Al Franken’s) without paying for it with blood. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 12/28/09 10:56:18 AM
The Blog from the Year 2008
Sunday, December 27, 2009 Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival 26 Tabb Centenary Year LXX: Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Tabb Centenary Year LXIX: Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 12/27/09 09:00:01 AM Complete Entry. Tabb Centenary Year LXX Five quatrains by Rev. John B. Tabb. Imagination
Here fancy far outdoes the deed; September 1893 (p. 358, Quatrains: Miscellaneous) Alter Ego
Thou art to me as is the sea December 1892 (p. 361, Quatrains: Miscellaneous) Loss
For one extinguished light January 1909 (p. 369, Quatrains: Miscellaneous) Wrinkles
This, biting Frost—this, branding Sun— November 1903 (p. 370, Quatrains: Miscellaneous) Beauty
She sleeps, her hiding-place unknown 1910 (p. 371, Quatrains: Miscellaneous) [“Alter Ego”: Latin, the other I; “Wrinkles”: the last line alludes to Genesis 1:26.] Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 12/27/09 08:50:31 AM
The Blog from the Year 2004
Friday, December 25, 2009 Complete Entry.Tabb Centenary Year LXIX Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Speculum Amoris
My God the Baby is 1910 (p. 191, Religion: Christ) The Incarnation
Save through the flesh Thou wouldst not come to me— 1894 (p. 339, Quatrains: Religion) The Breeze at Bethlehem
I that have lashed the sea 1910 (p. 199, Religion: Christmas) The Christmas Babe
So small that lesser lowliness January 1894 (p. 343, Quatrains: Religion) At the Manger
When first her Christmas watch to keep December 1907 (p. 196, Religion: Christmas) [Today is Christmas, on which day Christians celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Speculum Amoris”: Latin, mirror of love; the first stanza is spoken by the Blessed Virgin Mary, the second by her Divine Son. “The Incarnation”: see Catholic Encyclopedia. “The Breeze at Bethlehem”: the second stanza alludes to Mark 4:35-41.] Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/25/09 07:12:23 AM
The Blog from the Year 2008
Sunday, December 20, 2009 Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival 25 Tabb Centenary Year LXVIII: Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 12/20/09 07:56:39 PM Complete Entry. Tabb Centenary Year LXVIII Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Vox Dei “Some said it thundered.”
The Father speaking to the Son, 1909 (p. 194, Religion: Christ) Tradition
When home our blessed Lord was gone, 1899 (p. 345, Quatrains: Religion) Christ and the Pagan
I had no God but these, 1910 (p. 193, Religion: Christ) Potter’s Field
’Twas purchased with His blood, this holy ground, May 1898 (p. 342, Quatrains: Religion) The Image-Maker
“Thou shalt no graven image make;” January 1909 (p. 195, Religion: Christ) [John B. Tabb was ordained to the priesthood this day, December 20, 1884. “Vox Dei”: Latin, the voice of God; the poem is a reflection on the Gospel story related in John 12:20-36. “Tradition”: according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “The word tradition (Greek paradosis) in the ecclesiastical sense... refers sometimes to the thing (doctrine, account, or custom) transmitted from one generation to another; sometimes to the organ or mode of the transmission....” “Potter’s Field”: the poem references Matthew 27:3-10 and alludes to Luke 9:57-58. “The Image-Maker”: the quotation is from Exodus 20:4; the whole poem alludes to Genesis 1:26; a superscription is something written on the surface of, on the outside of, or above something else; an effigy is an image or representation of a person.] Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 12/20/09 08:52:25 AM
The Blog from the Year 2008
Friday, December 18, 2009 Patriots for Freedom 10 Your Humble, Faithful Blogster's contributions to the Patriots for Freedom blog the past seven days. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/18/09 06:58:09 AM
The Blog from the Year 2004
Monday, December 14, 2009 Complete Entry.George Washington, RIP The first president of the United States, George Washington, died 210 years ago today, December 14, 1799. Here follow 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation as copied out by Washington himself, circa 1744. + + + + + 2d When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usualy Discovered. 3d Shew Nothing to your Freind that may affright him. 4 In the Presence of Others Sing not to yourself with a humming Noise, nor Drum with your Fingers or Feet. 5th If You Cough, Sneeze, Sigh, or Yawn, do it not Loud but Privately; and Speak not in your Yawning, but put Your handkercheif or Hand before your face and turn aside. 6th Sleep not when others Speak, Sit not when others stand, Speak not when you Should hold your Peace, walk not on when others Stop. 7th Put not off your Cloths in the presence of Others, nor go out your Chamber half Drest. 8th At Play and at Fire its Good manners to Give Place to the last Commer, and affect not to Speak Louder than Ordinary. 9th Spit not in the Fire, nor Stoop low before it neither Put your Hands into the Flames to warm them, nor Set your Feet upon the Fire especially if there be meat before it. 10th When you Sit down, Keep your Feet firm and Even, without putting one on the other or Crossing them. 11th Shift not yourself in the Sight of others nor Gnaw your nails. 12th Shake not the head, Feet, or Legs rowl not the Eys lift not one eyebrow higher than the other wry not the mouth, and bedew no mans face with your Spittle, by approaching too near him when you Speak. 13th Kill no Vermin as Fleas, lice ticks &c in the Sight of Others, if you See any filth or thick Spittle put your foot Dexteriously upon it if it be upon the Cloths of your Companions, Put it off privately, and if it be upon your own Cloths return Thanks to him who puts it off. 14th Turn not your Back to others especially in Speaking, Jog not the Table or Desk on which Another reads or writes, lean not upon any one. 15th Keep your Nails clean and Short, also your Hands and Teeth Clean yet without Shewing any great Concern for them. 16th Do not Puff up the Cheeks, Loll not out the tongue rub the Hands, or beard, thrust out the lips, or bite them or keep the Lips too open or too Close. 17th Be no Flatterer, neither Play with any that delights not to be Play'd Withal. 18th Read no Letters, Books, or Papers in Company but when there is a Necessity for the doing of it you must ask leave: come not near the Books or Writings of Another so as to read them unless desired or give your opinion of them unask'd also look not nigh when another is writing a Letter. 19th let your Countenance be pleasant but in Serious Matters Somewhat grave. 20th The Gestures of the Body must be Suited to the discourse you are upon. 21st: Reproach none for the Infirmaties of Nature, nor Delight to Put them that have in mind thereof. 22d Shew not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another though he were your enemy. 23d When you see a Crime punished, you may be inwardly Pleased; but always shew Pity to the Suffering Offender. 24th Do not laugh too loud or too much at any Publick Spectacle. 25th Superfluous Complements and all Affectation of Ceremonie are to be avoided, yet where due they are not to be Neglected. 26th In Pulling off your Hat to Persons of Distinction, as Noblemen, Justices, Churchmen &c make a Reverence, bowing more or less according to the Custom of the Better Bred, and Quality of the Person. Amongst your equals expect not always that they Should begin with you first, but to Pull off the Hat when there is no need is Affectation, in the Manner of Saluting and resaluting in words keep to the most usual Custom. 27th Tis ill manners to bid one more eminent than yourself be covered as well as not to do it to whom it's due Likewise he that makes too much haste to Put on his hat does not well, yet he ought to Put it on at the first, or at most the Second time of being ask'd; now what is herein Spoken, of Qualification in behaviour in Saluting, ought also to be observed in taking of Place, and Sitting down for ceremonies without Bounds is troublesome. 28th If any one come to Speak to you while you are are Sitting Stand up tho he be your Inferiour, and when you Present Seats let it be to every one according to his Degree. 29th When you meet with one of Greater Quality than yourself, Stop, and retire especially if it be at a Door or any Straight place to give way for him to Pass. 30th In walking the highest Place in most Countrys Seems to be on the right hand therefore Place yourself on the left of him whom you desire to Honour: but if three walk together the middest Place is the most Honourable the wall is usually given to the most worthy if two walk together. 31st If any one far Surpassess others, either in age, Estate, or Merit yet would give Place to a meaner than himself in his own lodging or elsewhere the one ought not to except it, So he on the other part should not use much earnestness nor offer it above once or twice. 32d: To one that is your equal, or not much inferior you are to give the cheif Place in your Lodging and he to who 'tis offered ought at the first to refuse it but at the Second to accept though not without acknowledging his own unworthiness. 33d They that are in Dignity or in office have in all places Preceedency but whilst they are Young they ought to respect those that are their equals in Birth or other Qualitys, though they have no Publick charge. 34th It is good Manners to prefer them to whom we Speak before ourselves especially if they be above us with whom in no Sort we ought to begin. 35th Let your Discourse with Men of Business be Short and Comprehensive. 36th Artificers & Persons of low Degree ought not to use many ceremonies to Lords, or Others of high Degree but Respect and highly Honour them, and those of high Degree ought to treat them with affibility & Courtesie, without Arrogancy. 37th In Speaking to men of Quality do not lean nor Look them full in the Face, nor approach too near them at lest Keep a full Pace from them. 38th In visiting the Sick, do not Presently play the Physicion if you be not Knowing therein. 39th In writing or Speaking, give to every Person his due Title According to his Degree & the Custom of the Place. 40th Strive not with your Superiers in argument, but always Submit your Judgment to others with Modesty. 41st Undertake not to Teach your equal in the art himself Proffesses; it Savours of arrogancy. 42d Let thy ceremonies in Courtesie be proper to the Dignity of his place with whom thou conversest for it is absurd to act the same with a Clown and a Prince. 43d Do not express Joy before one sick or in pain for that contrary Passion will aggravate his Misery. 44th When a man does all he can though it Succeeds not well blame not him that did it. 45th Being to advise or reprehend any one, consider whether it ought to be in publick or in Private; presently, or at Some other time in what terms to do it & in reproving Shew no Sign of Cholar but do it with all Sweetness and Mildness. 46th Take all Admonitions thankfully in what Time or Place Soever given but afterwards not being culpable take a Time & Place convenient to let him him know it that gave them. 47th Mock not nor Jest at any thing of Importance break no Jest that are Sharp Biting and if you Deliver any thing witty and Pleasent abtain from Laughing thereat yourself. 48th Wherein wherein you reprove Another be unblameable yourself; for example is more prevalent than Precepts. 49 Use no Reproachfull Language against any one neither Curse nor Revile. 50th Be not hasty to beleive flying Reports to the Disparagement of any. 51st Wear not your Cloths, foul, unript or Dusty but See they be Brush'd once every day at least and take heed that you approach not to any Uncleaness. 52d In your Apparel be Modest and endeavour to accomodate Nature, rather than to procure Admiration keep to the Fashion of your equals Such as are Civil and orderly with respect to Times and Places. 53d Run not in the Streets, neither go too slowly nor with Mouth open go not Shaking yr Arms kick not the earth with yr feet, go not upon the Toes, nor in a Dancing fashion. 54th Play not the Peacock, looking every where about you, to See if you be well Deck't, if your Shoes fit well if your Stokings sit neatly, and Cloths handsomely. 55th Eat not in the Streets, nor in the House, out of Season. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 12/14/09 09:39:39 PM
The Blog from the Year 2004
Sunday, December 13, 2009 Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival 24 Tabb Centenary Year LXVII: Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Tabb Centenary Year LXVI: Three lyrics by Rev. John B. Tabb. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 12/13/09 05:34:00 PM Complete Entry. Tabb Centenary Year LXVII Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Submission
Since to my smiting enemy (p. 354, Quatrains: Personal) Love’s Autograph
Once only did he pass my way. September 1892 (p. 357, Quatrains: Miscellaneous) Pain
I am a gardener to weed January 1895 (p. 145, Life, Death and Similar Themes: Joy and Sorrow) Angels of Pain
Ah, should they come revisiting the spot 1894 (p. 352, Quatrains: Personal) The Sphinx
Ah, not alone in Egypt’s desert land September 1892 (p. 359, Quatrains: Miscellaneous) [“Submission”: the poem alludes to Matthew 5:39. “The Sphinx”: the Great Sphinx of Giza, the greatest of sphinxes, has become a symbol of ineffable mystery, because of its unknown origin and purpose, and of strength and wisdom, because it has withstood the desert for thousands of years.] Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 12/13/09 08:51:08 AM
The Blog from the Year 2004
Friday, December 11, 2009 Patriots for Freedom 9 Your Humble, Faithful Blogster's contributions to the Patriots for Freedom blog the past seven days. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/11/09 08:15:51 AM
The Blog from the Year 2004
Tuesday, December 08, 2009 Complete Entry.Tabb Centenary Year LXVI Three lyrics by Rev. John B. Tabb. A Lily of the Field
In all his glory, Solomon 1899 (p. 206, Religion: The Blessed Virgin) The Immaculate Conception
A dewdrop of the darkness born, January 1894 (p. 204, Religion: The Blessed Virgin) Mary
Maid-Mother of humanity divine, 1893 (p. 210, Religion: An Octave to Mary) [The Roman Church celebrates the Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary on Dec. 8, nine months before the celebration of her birthday, Sep. 8. “A Lily of the Field”: the poem and its title allude to Luke 12:27. “The Immaculate Conception”: in “passion-free”, Father Tabb may have meant passions in a theological sense, especially unbridled passions.] Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Tue. 12/08/09 08:39:17 AM
The Blog from the Year 2005
Sunday, December 06, 2009 Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival 23 Tabb Centenary Year LXV: Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 12/06/09 07:34:19 PM Complete Entry. Tabb Centenary Year LXV Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Deprecation
Low, I listen in my grave April 1907 (p. 165, Life, Death and Similar Themes: Sleep) Insomnia
E’en this, Lord, didst thou bless— October 1891 (p. 243, Himself and Others) Sleeplessness
Sleep quiets all but me, June 1893 (p. 355, Quatrains: Personal) Sundered
Thou sleepest sound, and I March 1908 (p. 251, Himself and Others) Midnight
A flood of darkness overwhelms the land; August 1894 (p. 163, Life, Death and Similar Themes: Sleep) [Father Tabb was a chronic insomniac. “Insomnia”: the concluding lines allude to the Gospel story of the Lord’s time in the Garden of Gethsemane, as in Mark 14:32-42. “Sleeplessness”: in Greek mythology, Tantalus was a son of Zeus. “Midnight”: the second quatrain alludes to the Old Testament story of the Plagues of Egypt, the ninth plague being darkness, as told in Exodus 10:21-23.] Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 12/06/09 01:35:04 PM
The Blog from the Year 2005
Friday, December 04, 2009 Spock Speaks In "The Mark of Gideon", an episode of Star Trek: We must acknowledge, once and for all, that the purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis.... Diplomats and bureaucrats may function differently but they achieve exactly the same results. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/04/09 07:30:05 AM
Patriots for Freedom 8 Your Humble, Faithful Blogster's contributions to the Patriots for Freedom blog the past seven days. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/04/09 07:23:51 AM
The Blog from the Year 2004
Sunday, November 29, 2009 Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival 22 Tabb Centenary Year LXIV: Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 11/29/09 03:41:43 PM
The Blog from the Year 2004
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